POLICE today claimed success in their high-profile operation to keep York trouble-free as jubilant football fans joined revelling racegoers in the city.

Only a handful of arrests were made on Saturday following England's victory over Denmark and the Timeform charity day at Knavesmire.

Chief Superintendent John Lacy, who took charge of city centre policing on Saturday evening, praised the behaviour of fans and racegoers.

"There was a very good atmosphere. Our concerns about behaviour after the football match and the races did not materialise.

"We received a lot of praise from racegoers, the public and licensees for our high profile policing," he said.

But he also warned that the police operation - which had involved doubling the normal number of officers on duty - had come at a cost.

"We had in excess of 100 officers working at the racecourse and patrolling the city centre."

He said some officers had had to be diverted from other duties, while others would require time off at some other time for coming in to work on Saturday.

The relatively good behaviour was in contrast to the violence which followed England's victory over Argentina.

The most serious incident on Saturday took place shortly after the final whistle outside a pub on Skeldergate.

Two people were arrested close to the pub, and police are investigating an alleged assault.

The other arrests were mainly for public order offences and for being drunk and disorderly.

Acting Inspector John Settle, of York Police, said: "From Saturday afternoon everybody was in high spirits but reasonably well-behaved.

"I would like to thank people for that sort of reaction. There was absolute jubilation around and people were over the moon with it.

"The city centre and public houses during the match were crammed, there were lots of people in there, but the right result led to euphoria. There weren't any really bad incidents."

Malton and Norton were also free of football related trouble.

The match distorted the normal Saturday trading pattern for city centre shopkeepers, with a busy morning's trade prior to the game but a quiet tail-off in the afternoon's business as shoppers got into party mood.

Supermarkets enjoyed a massive boost to booze sales over the weekend as customers watched and celebrated England's victory. Drinks sales were 40 per cent up at ASDA at Monks Cross over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Nick Brown, vice-president of York Chamber of Trade and boss of Browns department store, said: "People got moving early and were out and about shopping before the match.

"Business held up surprisingly during the game but tailed off afterwards as the realisation sank in that England were through to the quarter finals."

However, he believed the long-term benefit to the economy from England's success would outweigh any short-term blip. "We are getting a good feel-good factor, and the longer England keep on winning the better."

The football match is thought to have had an impact on Saturday's attendance figure at York Racecourse, with police estimating the crowd to be down by several thousand on the normal figure for the event.

Updated: 11:52 Monday, June 17, 2002